Gen.2:1-3 – Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed — the seventh day, and sanctified — it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
This is a beautiful picture of our great God, after He created all things He rested. Understanding God with our finite brains is not even remotely possible. He gives us glimpses of understanding by the word of God and the enlightenment of the Spirit. The rest that the Lord was enjoying was more of a stop and ponder at the work of His hands. It says this in the last verse of the previous chapter.
Gen.1:31 – And God saw — every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And — the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
The work of His hands was perfect and magnificent. His rest was a reflection and enjoyment of all He had done. This is what our rest is intended to be. We enter into rest and enjoy all He has done for us, in us, and through us. Here is what Matthew Henry says about this.
“The eternal God, though infinitely content in the enjoyment within himself, took satisfaction from the work of his own hands. He did not rest, as one who is weary, but as one who is well pleased with the instances of his own goodness and the manifestations of his own glory. The beginning of the kingdom of grace, in making the Sabbath day holy. He rested on that day and took satisfaction in his creatures, and then made it holy, appointing us on that day to rest and take satisfaction in our Creator. His rest is, in the fourth commandment, made a reason for our rest, after six days’ work. The solemn observance of one day in seven, as a day of holy rest and holy work to God’s honor, is the indispensable duty of all those to whom God has revealed his holy Sabbath.”
Remember what Jesus said, “Come unto Me all you that labor and I will give you rest”. We enter into that rest through our faith in the redemptive work accomplished for us at the cross. Because of the shedding of His blood we enter His very presence where we begin to enjoy this rest. We will spend eternity amazed and overcome with joy at the power of redemption and His great glory.
